'Noronen had refused the Sabres' original request to take a conditioning assignment earlier this season. The team denied his bid to play in Europe last month, noting the player would have to clear waivers to do so.'

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced today that goaltender Mika Noronen has agreed to a conditioning assignment with Rochester (AHL). Noronen will join Rochester immediately, and is expected to start Wednesday in Peoria, and Friday in Milwaukee.’

“It’s a real special thing,” said LaFontaine. “The fact I’ve been out of the game for a while now, you appreciate it more than ever. I’ve had a chance to reflect about my time in Buffalo and all the memories, and really take it in.”

'"We don't think it's going to be easy, and we don't think that we are too good," said co-captain Daniel Briere. "We are a team that relies on our work ethic to win games, and that's what we have to continue to do."'

'"I assume the summer is when [the Sabres] will want to start talking," McKee said, "but when you get to that point it would be a very unintelligent business move to go all the way to the summer and not see what other teams have to say."'

'"The next 10 days I've been really looking forward to and hopefully this thing is going to be over at that time and they're going to do some kind of move, either me or somebody else," Noronen said. "That's what I'm hoping for. We'll see what they're going to do."'

'"I'm more excited than I was at the beginning of the season and after the lockout," Briere said. "We're going down the stretch. There's only a month and a half left in the regular season, and we're two points away from Ottawa. Nobody in the world thought we could be even close to them."'